By Felix Khanoba
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Kingsley Udeh (SAN), has urged newly admitted students of Cosmopolitan University to harness innovation and technology in shaping a brighter future.
Speaking as guest speaker at the institution’s third matriculation ceremony held in Abuja on Saturday, the minister stressed that degree certificate alone no longer guarantee employment in today’s evolving global landscape.
“A graduate degree doesn’t translate to a job anymore. What translates to job is innovation,” the minister, who was represented by the Director-General of the National Centre for Technology Management, Olushola Odusanya, said.
He congratulated the 430 newly admitted students and their parents for choosing the university, describing it as an institution deeply rooted in technology and committed to producing solution-driven graduates capable of addressing societal and global challenges.
The minister also commended the institution’s rapid growth since its establishment, while urging its management to sustain and expand its achievements.
On his part , the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Carl Adams, described the occasion as significant for the new students joining a institution experiencing steady progress across multiple fronts.
“We’ve grown in our courses, our quality of our courses. We are providing top-level courses. You’ll be on par with any other university in other parts of the world.
“One of the mantras that we started off with, is that why would you go and spend thousands of dollars or pounds or yen or whatever and go and study abroad when we’ve got such great capability in Nigeria. Some of that capability is recognised here. We have world-class teachers, world-class researchers.
“I say world-class, what does that mean? It means that we interact and we collaborate with other researchers, with other teachers teaching in the topic areas. Last year we celebrated having five books published from our staff. This year we’ll double that.
“Books that will be there on the international market space, pushing the science of our topic areas. It means that we get international scholars that want to join with us on collaboration, that they like what we’re doing and want to collaborate with us on that. Not just international but also the fantastic researchers across Nigeria,” he said.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, the institution views its students as future leaders across diverse professions.
“We see you as the future leaders in your professions, whatever profession you’re taking, whether it be nursing, engineering, computer science or agriculture. We want you to be out there pushing your profession, making your profession stand out, being top people in your profession. It’s a global market,” Prof. Carl said.
The VC also called on the new students to take advantage of the technological and innovation opportunities put in place in the school.
“These are the technologies that companies, organisations, governments around the world are asking for. They’re crying out for skilled people in these areas,” he said.
Earlier, the Registrar, Mani Ibrahim Ahmad, disclosed that the university had secured approval from the National Universities Commission (NUC) to introduce additional programmes.
“The university got approval to establish Faculty of Agriculture as well as programs in radiography and postgraduate degree that will commence in about a week from now with MBA and Masters in Management as well as Intelligence and Security Studies,” Mani said .
He further revealed that the institution had acquired a new site in Jahi and was making arrangements to relocate some faculties from the current campus to the new location.
Describing the ceremony as a milestone, the registrar said it marked a significant moment not only for the students and their families but also for the university.
“I am very grateful to all of you and we are happy that we are all here to witness this all-important event in the life of these black people as they aspire to be the top leaders of tomorrow,” he said.
The highpoint of the event was the administration of the matriculation oath on the new students by the registrar.
